BBC - Top of the Pops - Through The Ages Contact Us Top Of The Pops shimmied onto our TV screens on New Year's Day 1964, armed with hordes of a scary new faction called 'young people' and presented by cigar-chomping tracksuit-model Jimmy Savile (although he was relatively normal back then). If that wasn't enough to scare the bejesus out of parents across the nation, the show was shot live, and in its first edition featured such greats as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Dusty Springfield and the Hollies. And here's a shocker for the uninitiated, although the early shows were live, the acts actually MIMED to their songs! Lost for words? So were they! Sadly, the first ever show is lost to history forever, but hey, that miming thing really took off, eh?

The Beatles - 'I Feel Fine' Performed 3rd Decmber 1964 Video gallery: Top Of The Pops - 50 years on « Express & Star Comments But when the first episode of Top of the Pops was screened 50 years ago today, it would mark a sea-change in popular culture for generations to come. “When it was on you could walk up to almost anybody in the street, and they would know who was No 1 in the charts,” says Stourbridge pop-music historian Paul Collins, who was an avid viewer of the show throughout its 42 years. And the show did much to raise the profile of numerous Midland acts who appeared on it. Slade's Dave Hill belts out the hits Slade, The Move and Wizzard were regular fixtures during the show’s glory years during the 1970s, when 15 million viewers would tune in every Thursday to hear their latest hits, often accompanied by the terminally cheesy dance troupe Pan’s People. Slade’s Dave Hill was quick to catch on to the importance of making a memorable visual impact, and while scouring Kensington Market for props, he was served by a young Freddie Mercury.

“I remember acts like The Move and Wizzard being on, and you would root for you local act just like you would for your local football team,” says Mr Collins. “You often knew what was Number 1 because the charts were out on Sunday, but tuning in to see the artists performing live – or miming very badly – was wonderful.” And in the days when television exposure was crucial to selling records, an appearance on Top of the Pops was a huge achievement. Jonn Penney, of Stourbridge rock band Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, says he was initially sceptical about whether a band such as his should be appearing on such a mainstream television programme, but soon overcome his reservations. Jonn Penney fronting Ned’s Atomic Dustbin “When my band was starting up, we were termed as being a bit oddball, a bit different, but then The Cure went on Top of the Pops,” he says. “That was a massive period for a new kind of music.” The first group to appear on New Year’s Day, 1964, was the Rolling Stones, performing I Wanna Be Your Man, followed by Dusty Springfield with I Only Want to be With You.

The Dave Clark Five, The Hollies and The Swinging Blue Jeans also appeared, along with the week’s No 1 act The Beatles, performing I Want to Hold Your Hand. The show was completed by filmed pieces from Cliff Richard and The Shadows and Freddie and The Dreamers. In the early days there was a strict set of rules laid down by producer Johnnie Stewart about who could appear on the show. Each show would close with that week’s No 1, no acts that were falling in the charts would be asked to appear, and only No1 acts would be allowed to feature in two consecutive editions. Pan’s People, led by choreographer Felicity ‘Flick’ Colby, first appeared in 1968, replacing the show’s original dance troupe the Go-Jos. In 1973 the show was revamped with a version of Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love adopted as the theme tune, which remained in place until another revamp in 1981, which saw Phil Lynott’s Yellow Pearl specially commissioned. The shows were usually screened live, with the performers miming to a pre-recorded track, which led to many acts refusing to appear on the show.

It backfired spectacularly in 1967, when a wrong backing track was played, leaving Jimi Hendrix to mime to Simon Smith and his Amazing Dancing Bear. The miming policy ended in 1991 when new producer Stan Appel said all performers must sing live, and also relaxed the rules so that acts could appear whatever their position in the charts. In 1996, Top of the Pops moved from its customary Thursday night slot to Friday, marking the beginning of the end for the venerable pop show. Up against top-rated soap Coronation Street, it was struggling for viewers, and then in 2005 it was moved again to a Sunday evening slot. Few people were surprised when it was finally dropped from the TV listings in 2006, although TOTP2, showing footage from the show’s heyday, continues to pull in decent viewing figures. 1. SLADE With the outrageous costumes favoured by Noddy Holder and Dave Hill, Slade was made for Top of the Pops, and Hill in particular loved the appearances. Jimmy Lea, however, was not always so keen.

There was one occasion when Noddy donned a huge kipper tie which Lea thought made him look like comedian Arthur English, and Hill was dressed in a silver outfit which Lea likened to a cockerel. “Arthur English I could just about accept, but I said there was no way I was going on stage with a soppy cockerel,” he later said. Hill was said to have replied: “You write ‘em Jim, I’ll sell ‘em.” 2. WIZZARD With his voluminous locks, extravagant make up and huge beard, Wizzard’s Roy Wood was a natural for the Top of the Pops age. One memorable appearance came in 1972 when the band performed its hit single See My Baby Jive, with an energetic contribution from Wood getting the entire audience bouncing up and down. Bass player Rick Price recalls: Every time we got a ‘Top of The Pops’ we felt obliged to come up with even more outrageous outfits. Well we did have Sweet and Mud to contend with.” For Christmas 1973, Wood went one better, dying his hair and beard white for the unforgettable festive classic “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday.” 3.

UB40 The Midland reggae stars made a total of 49 appearances on the show over an 18-year period, including four with Chrissie Hynde with whom the band had a long-running association. The group’s first appearance came on March 20, 1980, when Mike Read introduced a performance of Food for Thought, and there were two return visits the following month. The group, fronted by Ali Campbell, appeared for four consecutive weeks in 1983 performing the No. 1 hit Red, Red Wine, with two of these shows being fronted by West Midland DJs Peter Powell and Simon Bates. 4. DEXY’S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS The band’s first hit, Dance Stance, reached No. 40 in the charts in January, 1980, earning a first appearance on the show. It raised Dexy’s profile, helping the group’s second single, Geno, hit No. 1 spot.

But while the television exposure raised the profile of the band formed by Wulfrunian Kevin Rowland and Cradley Heath’s Kevin ‘Al’ Archer in 1978, not everyone was happy, and keyboard player Andy Leek quit because of the media attention. “Just because I’ve been on Top of the Pops doesn’t mean I should get any more respect,” he said. Archer also quit, but in 1982 the new-look group was back on Top of The Pops, with its most successful track to date, Come On, Eileen, and again later that year with Jackie Wilson Says. 5. DURAN DURAN The Birmingham group was at the heart of the New Romantic movement of the early 1980s, and made regular appearances on the show. Known as ‘the prettiest boys in rock’, there stylish outfits and distinctive haircuts meant they were ideally suited to television appearances, and their flamboyant on-stage presence meant there was always plenty of drama. The act’s first appearance came in March, 1981, when Planet Earth got to No. 12 in the singles charts, and the group returned three more times that year.

The boys from Birmingham were back in 1982 with Hungry Like the Wolf and Rio, and the following year Is There Something I Should Know? became their first No. 1, followed by The Reflex in 1984. Duran Duran’s last appearance on the show came in 1995. 6. BLACK SABBATH With their outrageous dress-sense and similarly unpredictable on-stage behaviour, millions of eyes were glued to Ozzy, Tony and Geezer whenever they appeared on television. The heavy metal trio were on Top of the Pops twice - in 1970 when they performed Paranoid, and eight years later with Never Say Die. 7. ROBERT PLANT Perhaps ironically, given that Whole Lotta Love was the show’s theme tune for eight years, Led Zeppelin never did appear on Top of the Pops. But while Led Zep was firmly focused on album sales, many fans will remember frontman Robert Plant appearing in 1983, performing Big Log. 8. MUSICAL YOUTH The baby-faced reggae stars’ seldom seemed to be away from Top of the Pops during a 15-month purple patch in the early 1980s.

Pass The Dutchie was at No. 1 for three weeks in 1982, while Never Gonna Give You Up, The Youth of Today, 007, and Sixteen also earned appearances. 9. JUDAS PRIEST The Black Country metal band first appeared on Top of the Pops in January, 1979, when lead singer Rob Halford caused a sensation by peforming Take On The World dressed in black leather, studs and a peaked cap. Judas Priest appeared on a total of four occasions. 10. BEVERLEY KNIGHT The Wolverhampton songstress was one of the last performers to appear on the series in 2006, but her soulful rendition of Erma Franklin’s Piece of My Heart will go down as one of the more memorable appearances on the show. 11. THE CHARLATANS The indie rockers’ first appearance on TOTP came in September, 1990, when they mimed to a backing track of Then. They returned in 1997 when they performed North Country Boy live, but sadly they were now minus keyboard player Rob Collins who had died in a car accident the year before. 12.

OCEAN COLOUR SCENE The Britpop group from Moseley made its debut on the show in 1996, performing The Riverboat Song. The lads were back the following year with Marchin’ Already, but this picture shows a 2003 performance of I Just Need Myself. 13. JAKI GRAHAM Jaki during her first appearance on Top of the Pops in April, 1985, when Round And Around reached No. 9 in the charts. She made two further appearances that year, returning on three more occasions in 1986. 14. THE WONDERSTUFF It is hard to believe it has been more than 22 years since the unlikely combination of comedian Vic Reeves and Stourbridge rock band The Wonderstuff topped the charts, earning Miles Hunt and co their first appearance on TOTP. Here we see the group - minus Vic - performing Full of Life (Happy Now) in 1993. 15. NED’S ATOMIC DUSTBIN Ned’s lead singer Jonn Penney initially questioned whether a band such as his should be seen to appear on Top of the Pops.

It looks like he was quite Happy judging from this 1991 appearance, though. 16. POP WILL EAT ITSELF Stourbridge seemed to be the heart of West Midland alternative rock during the early 1990s, with PWEI, going up against the Ned’s and the Wonderstuff. They certainly looked hot when they were performing 92 Degrees on the show in 1991. 17. BABYLON ZOO It was a 1995 advert for Levi’s jeans, featuring the track Spaceman, which catapulted the Wolverhampton rock group to fame. The following January, the band released the track as its first single, shooting straight to the top of the singles charts - and earning this appearance on Top of the Pops. 18. CORNERSHOP Fronted by Wolverhampton brothers Avtar and Tijinder Singh, the name Cornershop was a light-hearted swipe at the stereotype of Asian shopkeepers. Brimful of Asha reached No. 60 in the singles chart in 1997, but DJ Norman Cook saw its potential. The following year, Cook’s remix took it to No. 1. 19.

ALTERN-8 With lead vocalists Mark Archer and Chris Peat wearing face masks and chemical suits, and being joined on the stage by a silver spaceman, this 1991 appearance by the certainly stood out from the crowd. The Stafford rave act’s single Activ 8 (Come With Me) had just reached No. 3 in the charts, winning a place on the show. The following year Altern-8 was back again, with the predictably titled Evapor 8 20. BIZARRE INC The Stafford house music band, comprising DJs Dean Meredith and Mark ‘Aaron’ Archer, first appeared in 1991, performing Such A Feeling, and later that year returned for a rendition of Playing With Knives Here the duo are pictured peforming I’m Gonna Get You in 1992, and they were back the following year with Took My Love. BBC - Press Office - BBC says fond farewell to Top of the Pops Top of the Pops, the world's longest running weekly music show, will end its run on 30 July 2006, Jana Bennett, BBC Director of Television, announced today.

The decision to bring the show to an end after 42 years has not been taken lightly and over the past few years every effort has been made to maintain the quality and distinctiveness of the show. However the BBC's Creative Future Music Strategy has concluded that in a rapidly changing musical landscape Top of the Pops no longer occupies the central role it once did. Over recent years the show has faced ever increasing competition from multi-media and niche musical outlets which enable viewers to consume music of their choice any time night or day in a way that Top of the Pops simply cannot deliver in its current weekly format. At the same time, the breadth and diversity of music programming across the BBC's television portfolio has dramatically increased, reflecting the increasingly diverse landscape of audiences' taste in music. a new series of contemporary music sessions on BBC ONE; a new series on the history of rock called The Seven Ages of Rock for BBC TWO; extended coverage of the Reading/Leeds Festival on BBC THREE; and a long-running series that goes back to the roots of soul music called Soul Britainnia on BBC FOUR. There will also be a renewed commitment to established brands such as Later. with Jools Holland on BBC TWO and the BBC FOUR Sessions.

Jana Bennett said: "We're very proud of a show which has survived 42 years in the UK and gone on to become a worldwide brand but the time has come to bring the show to its natural conclusion. "Although we bid a fond farewell to Top of the Pops we remain as passionate as ever about reflecting the vitality of contemporary music across all our channels." Roly Keating, Controller, BBC TWO added: "I've really enjoyed the last year that Top of the Pops has transmitted on BBC TWO and the team did a stirling job in revitalising the format for our audience, but we all recognise that the time has come to move on." Mark Cooper, BBC Head of Entertainment Group, said: "It's not easy bidding farewell to such a treasured, favoured friend. "Although the time has come to say goodbye to the show, we're absolutely committed to creating music television on the BBC and we'll value working with the music industry in shaping our coverage." The end of the weekly show does not mark the total disappearance of the Top of the Pops brand from British television screens.

It will continue to feature in programmes such as TOTP2 - BBC TWO's archive show based on the Top of the Pops back-catalogue - which will sometimes incorporate new performance as well as one-off specials. Top of the Pops Top 20 Countdown Facts & Figures 20 Top of the Pops first transmitted live from a converted church in Dickinson Road, Manchester at 6.35pm on BBC ONE, New Year's Day 1964. It was presented by Jimmy Savile who opened the show with the immortal line: "It's Number One, it's Top of the Pops". The Rolling Stones were the first band to perform singing I Wanna Be Your Man and the full line also included Dusty Springfield, The Dave Clark Five, The Hollies, The Swinging Blue Jeans, Cliff Richard & The Shadows and Freddie & The Dreamers. The first Number One on Top of the Pops was The Beatles with I Wanna Hold Your Hand. 19 There have been a total of 10 different theme tunes, the latest being Tony Gibber's Get Out Of That (& this) 2003 remix.

18 There have been 13 different Top of the Pops logos and opening sequences over the show's 42 year history. 17 The record for the most number of appearances on Top of the Pops is held by Cliff Richard - almost 160 times. More than 150 people have presented the show from Sir Jimmy Savile to Robbie Williams. 15 In October 1982 Dexy's Midnight Runners appeared on Top of the Pops to perform Jackie Wilson Said - their tribute to the soul legend. Appearing on the screen behind them, however, was a giant picture of Jocky Wilson, the darts player, a deliberate joke as requested by the band. 14 Status Quo have made 87 appearances on Top of the Pops and have performed over the five decades of the show's history in the Sixties, Seventies, Eighties, Nineties and the 2000s. Their first performance was on 8 February 1968 singing Pictures of Matchstick Men and they last appeared on 18 September 2005 performing The Party Ain't Over Yet.

13 The great miming disaster of 1988 occurred during All About Eve's live performance of Martha's Harbour. A crew member tripped over the power switch in the studio leaving the singer, Julianne Regan, without her cue for the backing track. Her song was being broadcast live to the nation while Julianne sat on a stool in a pool of dry ice wondering what on earth was going on. 12 In 2001 Travis decided to bring chaos to Top of the Pops and re-enact their video for their single Sing by starting a custard pie fight on the show. 11 In 1967 Jimi Hendrix was seen attempting to mime Purple Haze while an Alan Price record was being inadvertently played as the backing track. 10 During the 500th edition of Top of the Pops in October 1973, Cliff Richard's performance was interrupted when the stage was showered by wigs. The culprits were The Who's roadies who had become bored and raided the props department. 9 Before the dawn of the video age, dance troupes were employed to entertain the audience on the occasions when a band were unable to appear on the show themselves.

The first was a group of three girls called The Go-Jo's who were replaced by dance sirens Pan's People in 1968. In 1976 Ruby Flipper took over that mantle only to be replaced later that year by Legs & Co who remained until 1981 when the reign of lovely long legged ladies was brought to an end by the debut of a troupe of 20 interchangeable male and female dancers named Zoo. 8 On 24 July 1975, the former Prime Minister Edward Heath arrived unannounced at the Top of the Pops studio to hear Bing Crosby perform That's What Life Is All About. 7 The respected folk-rock group Steeleye Span once doubled as Wombles to perform Superwomble because Mike Batt (Womble-in-chief) was short of musicians for the show. 6 In 1991 Nirvana performed Smells Like Teen Spirit live with lead singer Kurt Cobain singing the entire song an octave lower than normal and without the famous screams in the chorus due to problems with his voice. The performance ended with what was officially the first spontaneous stage invasion.

There have been four other since during appearances by Backstreet Boys, Symposium, Oasis and Limp Bizkit. 5 Madonna left a gap of nearly 11 years between performing Like A Virgin on 13 December 1984 and You'll See on 2 November 1995. 4 The record for having the most people on stage at Top of the Pops was held by Sting, who performed Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot with a nine-piece band and 43 gospel singers. This was broken by Fat Les singing Jerusalem to celebrate England's Euro 2000 effort, they managed to squeeze more than 70 people on stage. 3 On 24 January 2003, Flaming Lips made their Top of the Pops debut singing Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots but unbeknown to the audience they were harbouring a very special guest guitarist who performed cunningly disguised head to toe in a dolphin costume. At the end of the song the mystery guest pulled off his dolphin head to be revealed as Justin Timberlake. 2 Top of the Pops is a global brand which has transmitted in more than 120 countries.

'You woke up on a Thursday and it smelled like a Top of the Pops day' | Music | The Guardian 'You woke up on a Thursday and it smelled like a Top of the Pops day' Tomorrow, the final TOTP airs. Music stars past and present remember the good times Hit parade ... (clockwise from top left) Slade, All About Eve, the Stranglers, Pan's People Friday 28 July 2006 19.01 EDT First published on Friday 28 July 2006 19.01 EDT Close Slade Top Of The Pops was crucially entwined with our career. We were most remembered for Merry Xmas Everybody (1973), but the first time we were on I was frightened. The DJ presenters had huge egos: these guys were opening supermarkets for thousands and were even bigger stars than the bands. But then you'd see Pan's People looking bedraggled in the morning and the sets all held together with sticky tape, and it demystified it. We thought, "We can rule this." We had a reputation as a phenomenal live band and we took that on to the show.

We played the songs and Nod [Holder] really sang them, so it felt alive and exciting, even though we weren't plugged in. There was a lot of rivalry. When we first went straight in at number one [with Cum On Feel The Noize], I remember walking in and other acts went quiet. Ray Davies came up to me in the BBC bar and said, "Don't keep doing the same thing", and I hummed his hits at him and said, "It didn't stop you!" He threw Coca-Cola over me and it all kicked off. We were banned from the BBC bar for months. Jimmy Savile gave me the best advice: "Always remember the tide comes in and goes out again." We were regular blokes who treated it like a night's work and had a pie afterwards, and I think that's why people loved us. But we went to town on the outfits, especially Dave Hill. He'd get changed in the bogs and every time he came out I held my head in my hands. Someone said, "Have you seen the state of your guitarist? He looks like a metal nun!" Jim Lea Spice Girls Top Of The Pops magazine coined our nicknames - I get called Baby Spice even now.

I thought Top Of The Pops was an amazing show: when I was young, we'd all have sleepovers to watch it. So when we went on that first time, I thought, "This is it!" Doing Wannabe (1996) freaked me out. Marilyn Manson was standing watching us. I forgot the words. I've been on countless times, but I never got over that feeling of excitement. You'd have a dressing room so close to your heroes you could hear them talking. I saw Diana Ross. I nicked George Michael's name tag. One time we ran into Prince's dressing room, pushing our way past the bodyguards, going, "Priiiiiince ..." Emma Bunton Happy Mondays When we played Hallelujah in 1989, we never realised that us and the Stone Roses appearing on the same Top Of The Pops would become a seminal moment. But I do remember getting back to Manchester and people telling us all the bars had set up screens specially to watch it, so it was a big deal. I'd wanted to be on Top Of The Pops ever since I was eight and saw David Bowie performing Starman with a blue acoustic guitar.

I remember bumping into Tina Turner. We'd been given £1,000 each by the record company to buy new clothes; I spent £300 and pocketed the rest. I think everyone was heavily "sedated". I vividly remember being sat in the BBC garden and Shaun [Ryder] and Ian [Brown] were chuckling, plotting to swap drummers. I think the BBC rumbled it. Paul Ryder The Hollies We were on the first show [performing Stay, January 1, 1964] along with the Rolling Stones and Dusty [Springfield]. It was filmed in a converted church outside Manchester. We were all touring, so everybody treated Top Of The Pops like a day off. There'd be the Animals knocking back bottles of Mateus Rosé and Keith [Richards] with his whisky and Coke, then we'd all go to a club. Over the years the BBC got obsessed with weird set-ups like positioning the drummer at the front, and they went through a very strange period of making the visuals "suit the song". We had a hit with a song called Searchin'. They had us walking around the studio, no instruments, pretending we were looking for something.

Sadly we did it instead of saying, "Piss off. Get the Stones to do it!" Tony Hicks Donovan Jimmy Savile and Cathy McGowan invented the idea of visual music. Before Top Of The Pops and Ready Steady Go!, it had been just audio, so really it created the veejay. For the first time you could see everything that was happening in pop that week, all at once. Jimmy Savile was crucial, visually and with that voice: "Now then, guys and gals..." He went into my wardrobe and came out with the Superman costume. It was fairly wild. I was on quite a lot - maybe Colours in 1965 stands out - but I can't remember any of it. The continuity girls would come in and say, "You're on in two minutes," and we'd go, "When's that?" Betty Boo I grew up in Shepherd's Bush, so my love affair with TOTP started very early. I used to play in the park next to the BBC and I remember when I was about four I saw Showaddywaddy and Mud having a fight.

They said there was a secret passage that went underground, half a mile up the road to Wood Lane, where they'd take the really big superstars so nobody would see them. I believed it well up to the time I did it myself. There was one time [Where Are You Baby?, 1990] when I performed early and then went home in the taxi and watched the rest of the show in my hot pants and platform shoes. There were some pervy cameramen sometimes, looking up your skirt. I'll definitely miss it, because you woke up on a Thursday and it smelled like a TOTP day. Status Quo We've done it 106 times, which is the record, but I'm still not sure how we managed it. The first time we were there in 1968 we were introduced as "the Stattus Quo" and there's a shot of [drummer] John Coghlan where you know he's thinking, "Look, Mum, I'm on Top Of The Pops." If your record didn't shift after doing Top Of The Pops, it wasn't any good.

When we were younger, we used to say, "Awww, not Top Of The Pops again! Can't they use a film?" but we found ways to amuse ourselves. We'd start drinking in the afternoon, so we were often fairly pissed, and obviously when Rick [Parfitt] fell over the drum kit in Marguerita Time [1989] we were very pissed. Francis Rossi New Order It was the only time in the show's history that a band appeared on the show and the single went down in the chart the following week. Foolishly, we insisted we would go on only if we could perform live. So they had to inspect everything and put "BBC approved" stickers on our plugs. All the other bands were telling us how they'd always wanted to do it live, but we made a complete balls of it. Blue Monday [1983] was never the easiest song to perform, anyway, and everything went wrong. The synthesisers went awry. It sounded awful. When we did Thieves Like Us, I remember hearing the camera crew going, "Oh my God, this lot don't move a muscle and the bassist's chewing gum!" I suppose we were trying to rebel.

I think everyone harbours a secret fantasy of going on with a loaded machine gun and taking half the audience down. Steve Morris The Kooks My mum was actually on Top Of The Pops before me, dancing in the studio audience to the Rolling Stones - I think that was the golden age. By the time we got on, something had been lost. The quality of bands had declined, and the press and media around it seemed more important than the music. I don't think it ever recovered from people like Andi Peters getting hold of it [in 2003]. When you're on it, you wait around all day and then you have to mime - you feel ridiculous. You should jump around because you're excited and into the music. Trying to do that to a recording of your own song is as rubbish as standing in front of the mirror with a tennis racket. Max Rafferty The Stranglers We were on it almost every year, which was amazing considering the kind of band we were. My fondest memory was being accused of trashing someone's dressing room - a boy band, I think. I only broke the door.

Because we were on a lot, me and Hugh [Cornwell] had a dare to see who could pull a Pan's Person, but we were too dangerous for them, I think. Everyone kept their distance from us. We'd take the piss out of it - because we thought miming was bollocks, we'd do really bad lip-synching. Once Jet [Black] started sawing through his bass drum and this EMI rep didn't realise it was live and she ran on saying, "You can't do that!" Jean-Jacques Burnel The Human League/Heaven 17 The record companies tried everything to get their acts on Top Of The Pops, but usually you had to be in the Top 40. In the Human League, we really needed a hit so covered a Glitter song, Rock 'n' Roll Part 2. It went in at 62, but somebody must have pulled a string because we got on the programme. So 19 million viewers had the spectacle of this weird austere electronic group from Sheffield. By the time we were in Heaven 17, it was the full-on New Romantic era.

Us, Duran and Spandau saw it as a continuation of the glam Top Of The Pops we'd grown up with. We donned Antony Price suits, but it was a time when even 40-year-old singers suddenly came on in eyeliner. To make it look hip and exciting, the producers had exotic dancers in cages and people whooping. I remember watching Elvis Costello doing Shipbuilding, a very desolate, anti-Falklands song, and in the middle there's all these people going, "Whoooooo!" Martyn Ware John Otway (& Wild Willy Barratt) We'd just been on the Old Grey Whistle Test and I'd leapt on the amplifier and landed on my bollocks. That stunt took the single into the charts, so we tried to repeat it for Top Of The Pops. We insisted on doing it live. It was absolute chaos. They used to get an act to warm up the crowd, and that day it was us. The director told us that the warm-up performance was "10 times better".

He said, "Why didn't you do the performance you did for 30 people, for 20 million?" So when I was on again 25 years later, we used a backing track. Everyone else did it live. Gary Numan (Tubeway Army) In those days, every time I went out of the door I was making mental notes. Does this singer talk to the crowd? Does such-and-such work with an audience? I noticed everyone stared at the camera on Top Of The Pops, so I decided to look only at the camera during certain lyrics. It was effective, but a lot about that first appearance, when we did Are "Friends" Electric [1979], was a happy accident. When I turned up at the studio, I had spots, so the make-up ladies gave me some very pale-looking make-up to cover them up. The whole white face thing became very powerful. I kept the image. Sparks That one show playing This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us [1974] had such a tremendous effect. I was doing things that would be way too subtle live but worked on television. Close-ups were coming in.

It sounds disingenuous, but it wasn't contrived. I'd stare at the camera sideways and the effect was way beyond what I expected. Obviously I didn't expect thousands of schoolchildren to go, "Did you see that guy?" Ron Mael Travis One of the best memories we have of the whole Invisible Band campaign [album released in 2001] was the infamous pie- and shaving foam-flinging episode on Top Of The Pops. I remember people being slightly apprehensive about doing it, but it ended up being even more fun than filming the video. It's a tragedy that an institution like Top Of The Pops has been allowed to fall into such disrepair that it has been axed. Dougie Payne The Housemartins/ The Beautiful South Our first time [Happy Hour, 1986] was all a bit mad. We were still playing gigs to 300 people, so TOTP was a big step up. I remember looking out to see if there was anyone in the audience who might like us, and we couldn't see any. The Beautiful South have been on maybe 30 times.

When you got on, you knew you had a hit, so it was often the crowning moment, but watching it became less of a thrill because the value of the charts is less. You used to think, "Ooh, who's gone in at 39?" Now it's top three or nothing. Paul Heaton All About Eve The first time we were on TOTP [Martha's Harbour, 1988] there was all this backstage chat about how we were going to race up the charts and there was a posh restaurant booked for afterwards. Everything was fine in rehearsal. Then they got the audience whooping and clapping, and we were waiting to hear the first couple of notes so we could start miming, but we heard nothing. At all. There was a very pregnant pause. One hairy technician guy down the front said to me, "Sing something!" It seemed like it was going on for minutes but it was probably only 30 seconds. And then, very suddenly, the monitor in front of me kicked in and I started singing, pretending nothing had happened. The theory was that some technician had tripped and pulled a lead out of a socket.

Afterwards, in the dressing room, there were no tantrums or tears, just glum disappointment. Janice Long and Mark Goodier came down and were lovely, offering their condolences as if there had been some kind of death. There must have been a big sympathy vote because the song went up five places the next week. Julianne Regan The Jesus And Mary Chain I grew up watching the likes of T-Rex and David Bowie on TOTP. That this one day could be me seemed like a wild fantasy. I never understood that whole punk thing of not doing TOTP; personally, I would have loved to have seen the Clash on the show. I don't remember much about our one and only appearance [1986]. We were all pretty nervous and, to us, nervous equals drunk. I remember having a couple of cans in the Blue Peter garden and being astounded by the lack of security - how these alcoholic rock'n'roll types were allowed to stumble around these kiddy TV sets with no one seeming the least bit concerned. Still, in typical Mary Chain fashion, we managed to piss everybody off without even trying, and were never asked again.

Jim Reid Girls Aloud The first time we did TOTP, we had already been on TV [Popstars: The Rivals], but it was still weird being on a set that was so familiar. It felt much more real, like we were a new band in our own right. We did Sound Of The Underground live [2002]. If you look back at it now, we probably look petrified. There's always a big palaver with us over what we're trying to do: we had a bar for Love Machine, and five motorbikes when we did Wake Me Up. TOTP was a stepping stone for new bands. There's no CD:UK any more, no music on Saturday morning kids' shows. Getting videos on MTV is probably the only way to launch a new band. I wouldn't like to be in that position now. Kimberley Walsh The Kinks Our first performance on TOTP was in Manchester and it was the first time I had flown on an aeroplane. I was terrified. My least favourite time was when we performed Autumn Almanac. I thought to myself as we were playing, "I'm too old for this." I was 23 at the time.

I wrote a song called Top Of The Pops because it became part of the music vocabulary. I have fond memories of it. The show was at its best when it was less corporate and more like fans of the music it presented. Ray Davies Blur/Fat Les It had glamour, TOTP - that thing where the ordinary was made special. When you told taxi drivers you were in a band, they'd ask if you'd been on TOTP. It was a benchmark. And it was a bloody good day out. There was always a chance of meeting someone you liked. The first time I went to the Groucho was after TOTP, with Vic Reeves. The other thing that gave it a frisson was that EastEnders was filmed in the same studio at Borehamwood, so there would be Tori Amos having a cup of tea and, on the next table, Dot Cotton. For years you could get into Albert Square, but it got so popular that they put gates around it. Vindaloo [1998] was a song about England and EastEnders is very English, so we got special dispensation.

When we did Jerusalem [officially the biggest number of people in one TOTP performance], there were a lot of people involved and they all wanted to be on TOTP and it was hard to say no. TOTP isn't really something we should mourn - it's just like a friend we're not friendly with any more. Life's moved on. Alex James The Rezillos I wrote the song Top Of The Pops [1978] fairly early in my career. Obviously, the show was unmissable in the late 70s, but it gradually became evident to me that, rather than just reflecting what people were buying, it dictated where your record would go in the charts. I thought it would be really subversive to write a cheeky, ironic song that was critical of the way the programme worked and to do it on TOTP. I didn't think it would happen. You had to send a lyric sheet to the BBC before they'd let you on the programme, so I think we changed "constipated" to "concentrated". I can't believe someone who'd read it wouldn't have realised it was critical. We thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.

Jo Callis The Specials We had a lot of trouble making Ghost Town [1981], so when it went to number one and we arrived at TOTP, I thought, "At last I've proved myself to the band! The atmosphere's going to change." And then, in the dressing room, Terry [Hall], Neville [Staples] and Lynval [Golding] announced they were leaving. That was the last time we shared a stage. The best TOTP stories are all about DJs. We went into the canteen once and no one was talking, everyone was staring at the ground. Mike Read was sat on a table with an acoustic guitar singing Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds and nobody dared laugh because he was so powerful. That was one of the most horrendous musical moments of my life. When we first got there [in 1979], Jimmy Savile came in the dressing room and said, "Number one, lads, number one." And we were like, "Really?

You think so?" Then, five minutes later, I was walking down the corridor and I could hear from another dressing room, "Number one, lads, number one." Jerry Dammers The Orb When we did The Blue Room [1992], they played the video in the background while we played chess. At first the producers asked if we could play with a keyboard next to the chess set, but we decided it was getting silly. We were trying to play properly, but Kris [Weston] started cheating and taking pieces off. My enduring memory of the day is that, while being intoxicated, we asked Take That if they wanted to play football in the corridors - they declined. We made up a football song to the tune of It Only Takes A Minute and chanted that to them all afternoon. I ended up doing a track with Robbie Williams as a result. He said he was thoroughly impressed with our attitude to TOTP. He saw us bending the rules and enjoying ourselves, while Take That were packed into the format. Alex Paterson Manic Street Preachers It was a gigantic deal, TOTP. The first time we did it was incredible.

I just felt like, "I'm never going to work again, Grandma!" When we did Faster [1994], Richey [Edwards] wanted me to wear a balaclava. Because we were all dressed in army regalia, it felt like we were parodying the use of legitimate power, like the special forces. It didn't enter our heads that people would see it as an Irish paramilitary symbol. The BBC never said, "Take that off." When there was a reaction, we were quite shocked, to be honest. They told us it was the most complaints they'd ever received. James Dean Bradfield Pan's People I joined in 1973 when one of the original girls became pregnant. When a band couldn't appear, they'd use us to interpret their record. If the record we'd been rehearsing all week went down in the charts, we couldn't do it, so a whole new creation had to take place. I thought Flick Colby, the choreographer, would have a heart attack. We used to call it Frisbee Day because she would throw the singles around.

We had a lot of dry ice for one song - Barry White or something - and one of the girls just disappeared off the edge of the stage because she couldn't see. TOTP was like a club. You saw the same bands every month or so - it was that fantastic time of glam rock and the Who and Stevie Wonder. Mind-blowing for a young person. The exciting bit was the bar after the show. I went up one night and one of the doormen had two black eyes. I said, "What happened?" And he just pointed and went, "Keith Moon and Marty Feldman." Cherry Gillespie

Question: Which group performed the first ever song in the first episode of Top of the Pops in 1964?
Answer: THE ROLLING STONES